


To Shatter Like a Jar of Glass

by Eucerei



Category: Danny Phantom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: And there’s gonna be a ton of angst later, Crossover, Gen, This takes place after the first season of mlb because that’s when I started writing it, and adrien is a creampuff, and so is danny, but if you’re not used to that then go read some because it’s brilliant, danny cant speak french, im a mess, like dp fandom level angst, not just the memes, this is basically the story of how everybody’s day was ruined because of danny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eucerei/pseuds/Eucerei
Summary: Danny Fenton is a fourteen year old kid running from an accident. He has found himself in Europe, with a weight on his back and a secret- sleeping in alleyways and metro stations when the security officers don’t force him out. But on a rainy day under the Eiffel Tower, he meets a young man who shows him the first kindness he’s seen in months, and a friendship is born. And when Danny witnesses the real danger that Paris today can bring, he feels the duty to help however he can, at any cost.





	1. Money Grabber

**Author's Note:**

> Danny encounters an unusual person and eats entirely too many Doritos.

Danny sat on the park bench near the Eiffel Tower, counting his Euros as the sky lightly misted the earth below. The tower rose up in front of his lonely bench, it’s lights bright against the thick layer of clouds, the wet ground reflecting the orange glow they cast. The scenery was beautiful, but it wasn’t exactly as awe-inspiring as it had been the first time he’d seen it, as he had been sitting here on this bench for quite a long time. His back twinged in pain and he sat foreword for a moment to rub it, hissing through his teeth as he did so. Looking about in his ministrations, his eyes traveled across the concrete to notice his surroundings. He almost hadn’t noticed it was raining. Water fell lightly around him and the wind flew through the square at a brisk pace, causing Danny to draw his coat tighter around his thin frame and pull his dirty black backpack closer to him. As he observed the mostly deserted park, he saw a group of people standing underneath one of the four supports of the tower with an assortment of trailers and other seemingly improbable structures. He tilted his head in confusion. As any sane person was hiding from the weather inside today, he wondered what they could possibly be doing. 

As he squinted in their direction through the rain, some of the euros he had in his hand were ripped from his grip, the wind carrying them off in the general direction of the tower. Danny cussed loudly, standing up as fast as his pained body would allow him and ran as fast as he could after the euros. That was the last of his money from Vlad, and there was no way he could get in contact for more without making room for far too many unwanted questions. Even if he could, his pride wouldn't allow him. Vlad would surely have to notify his family and they would of course be concerned and ask far too many questions for their own good. They would worry about him, where he was, when he was coming back. All of these questions were not questions Danny was comfortable answering. Besides, his family and friends were probably doing fine without him. They had seemed relatively unconcerned before he left. Hadn’t they? He tried to convince himself of this as he scurried after the euros, slinging his backpack over his shoulder on the way. 

In Paris, everything smells old. You can practically taste the history on every surface, but every day you find something new situated right around the corner, surprising you with it’s innovation. Paris is a mix of the history and progression of the human race, and when you visit, you can see it in every street and building. However, you are bound to find yourself less appreciative of that history and innovation if you can pay for almost none of it, as Danny found himself. Then every beautiful but uncomfortable filigree on the benches and every chique but spiky modern art sculpture just made it harder for him to find a place to sleep. He had come to Europe on a passenger plane with a ticket bought with Vlad’s money, his head turned down and his fake passport clutched in white-knuckled hands. For the whole plane ride, he clutched his backpack to his chest, bemoaning the fact that he couldn't just fly outside the plane instead of being cooped up like a chicken inside it. He spent the next several months making his way through Europe, traveling to England, Italy, and now Paris, hopping trains to get from place to place. He wanted to get to all the places in the world that he had never gotten to see before, and as space was out of the question without a college degree (which he didn’t have) or even a high school degree (which he also didn’t have), Danny was left to travel around the world mooching money off of a lonely billionaire. But he had just run out on his luck. These were his last couple euros, and he wasn’t about to ask for more. 

He ran after his errant euros, catching two of them in one swoop and missing the next. He silently cussed out the inanimate objects for making him move when his muscles were still so tight. Chasing cash is not usually healthy for an injured person, but not being able to eat is two times less healthy. He was just about to give up, having ran almost all the way across the courtyard, when the wind temporarily ceased. He bent down to pick the money up, gathering a few crinkled bills in his hands before looking up to find a hand holding out the remaining money to him, the dirty crinkled red and blue bills looking out of place in a hand that was so clean, and quite possibly manicured. 

“Tenez. Vous avez l’air comme vous avez besoin de l’aide.” Said the owner of the hand, which turned out to be a boy in an absolutely ridiculous fur coat. Danny blinked a couple times to make sure that he wasn’t just hallucinating. He looked so very out of place there on the soaked pavement, the rain wetting his coat and his hair as he held the money out in front of him, and as Danny straightened up, he realized that his entire outfit was just, if not more ridiculous. There was of course the floor-length white fur coat, which was now soaked which made the boy look as if he were a polar bear who had been dragged through a puddle of milk and then been snowed on for several hours. Basically just very white. He was also wearing a shirt that seemed to be made out of leather, and not the classy kind you’d see on bikers at the local throwdown bar. This was the kind of leather that someone would make a carseat out of. And his pants… they were the kind that bunched up tightly at the ankles and looked like they were trying to escape from his legs everywhere else. What were those called again? The boy coughed politely and Danny realised that he’d been staring. He flushed and tried not to be so obvious. 

“I’m sorry, I understood exactly none of that sentence.” said Danny, trying in vain to keep his eyes off of the ensemble. Oh, he looked again. And again. Damn. 

The kid, seemingly oblivious to Dany’s less than discreet staring, gave a short laugh and let Danny take the bills from his hand. “Sorry, man. I said that it looked like you were having trouble.” the boy waited patiently as Danny shoved the bills into his pockets and zipped them up securely. Danny studied him again, and this time looked past the outfit. The boy had bright green eyes, and blonde hair currently dripping with water. Aside from his abnormal getup, he looked like any average teen who was absolutely stunning and also staring at him again with an extremely quizzical look on his face. Danny mentally slapped himself, realising that he had probably missed something the boy had said because of his stupid eyeballs and their errant personality. “So, you’re American?” Said the boy. Danny smiled ironically. 

“How could you tell? Did you notice my University of Tourism sweatshirt, or did you just sense the freedom radiating off of me?” The stranger paused for a moment, then laughed, seemingly surprised by the joke. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would get offended if Danny asked the question that was on his mind. He paused for a moment, weighing his options. “I’m sorry if I offend you, but why are you wearing that coat? Not that it’s not,” he scrunched his nose up, “special, but..” he trailed off, hoping the boy would understand. 

The boy looked down, seeming to notice his coat for the first time, and laughed a little bit. “Yeah, I can see how you’d think this is a hairy situation. But sadly for me,” he drew himself up in a huge sigh, letting his shoulders sag to the ground in a dramatic show of resignation, and Danny decided that he liked this kid. “I get to be this special every day. Come on, I’ll show you.” He gestured back to the group of people, several of whom were looking rather aggravated at his spontaneous disappearance. It was only then Danny noticed the surplus of other people dressed in similarly special outfits.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t be intruding-”

Adrien put up his hand and shook his head. “No, no no. It’s no trouble at all. I’ve always wanted to invite a friend to one of these things, and no one should be sitting in the rain when it’s this cold. Come on, we have heating in the trailers.” With that the boy started walking back towards the people, leaving Danny to catch up both mentally and physically. Wait, he had just met this kid and they were already on the friend basis? In what universe does a simple kindness mean an invitation to… well, whatever this was?

“What are you guys doing over here, putting on a circus?” Said Danny, squeezing between a woman in a gigantic feather hat and a man wearing what appeared to be snakeskin suspenders. The people were gathered around a group of trailers that had been set up about thirty feet from the base of the Eiffel Tower, all milling about and chatting amongst each other. Every one of them was either wearing ridiculous clothing or a plain black uniform. 

The blonde boy laughed, leading Danny across the lot to the trailers. “Yes, you could say that.” He led them farther across the pavement, almost knocking into a thin woman in a yellow sports suit and a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. “So, what was your name again?”

“Danny. Danny,” he searched his brain for the alias he had on his passport. “Masterson.” The passport had been a gift from Vlad as well. 

“Well,” said the blonde boy. “Nice to meet you, Danny.” The boy was about to go up the steps of the trailer when a sharp voice called across the square. 

“Adrien Agreste! Reviens ici!” The boy, Adrien Danny assumed, gave Danny a pained look before turning in the direction of the voice. 

“j’arrive, père!” He quickly turned to Danny. “I'll be right back, just a moment.”  
He looked around for a second. “Nathalie! Could you come over here for a minute?” A woman dressed in a sharp suit and glasses with red highlights in her hair looked up from her phone and walked over to Adrien and Danny.

“Yes, Adrien?” She said in English, looking at him quizzically. 

“Could you give my friend a tour? Or just wait with him here until Father doesn't need me anymore,” He looked at her despairingly, clasping his hands and opening his eyes wide, which given the white coat and fluffy hair gave off an extremely puppy-like vibe. “Please, Nathalie?”

She looked displeased for a moment, giving a look that was clearly meant to be interpreted as why? At seeing Adrien’s pleading look however, she then relented, giving a short nod of her head. “All right. Now go deal with your father.” 

He smiled at her and turned to Danny. “I'm so sorry, but I won't be able to take you around myself. Would you be alright with waiting here for a moment?.” When Danny shrugged, he smiled again and ran off in the direction of a man in a white suit with a very unfortunate expression on his face. 

Danny stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. Why had this kid just invited him into his personal whatever this was? Fashion show? There was something definitely wrong with this kid if he just brought strangers into his personal space. Danny was also fairly concerned about the woman standing next to him. Her face seemed to be carved from marble, and her eyes were darting over his ratty clothes and dirty backpack, seemingly evaluating whether or not to throw him out right then and there. 

Evidently she had decided, because she put her phone in her pocket and crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow at him threateningly. “So, what are you here for?”

He instinctively straightened his spine, fighting the urge to snap to crisp attention. “Nothing. I mean, uh, nothing ma'am.” He gestured in the general direction that Adrien had run off in. “He just brought me here after helping me pick up my money. Ma'am.” He did his best to appear the opposite of suspicious, which was hard when you lived out of a backpack and hadn’t showered in about two weeks.

She scrutinized him for a long moment, her eyes flicking between his dirty clothes, messy black hair and fingerless gloves that probably used to be socks at some point. She leaned back, grunted, then uncrossed her arms. “Alright, you can follow me. I’ll let you stay in his trailer until he comes back. But.” She turned to him and put a finger directly in front of his eyes. “You do not leave until he comes back. You do not touch anything. You simply sit,” she turned and started walking. “And you wait for Adrien. Or you can leave now.” Danny scrambled to catch up. 

“Wait, you’re not kicking me out?”

“No. Though I see plenty of reason to, I have no desire to upset Adrien any more than necessary.”

“Um, excuse me,” Said Danny, flinching when she looked back at him. “Why,” He struggled to find the words. “Why do you guys trust me so much? You guys are just going to let me sit in this kid’s trailer, where undoubtedly expensive things are ripe for the taking, and you don’t even know my name. Isn’t that a bad strategy if you don’t want those things stolen?”

She turned and opened the door to a large white trailer for him. “Did I make a mistake in letting you stay?”

Danny shook his head swiftly. “No, Ma’am.” He quickly entered through the proffered door, being sure to maintain a good three feet between himself and the woman. She moved to close the door, but before she could he swiftly wedged his foot in the frame, flinching when his thin shoe did not offer near enough protection from the quickly closing door. “But seriously.” He said, looking her in the eyes. “Why are you letting me stay here?” 

Nathalie sighed, removing her glasses and rubbing between her eyes. “Adrien doesn’t have a lot of friends. Not because he’s a bad kid, but because he’s never had the chance to make friends before.”

“And letting him socialize with a random vagrant on the street is the way to help him socialize?”

“No, but he seems to trust you for some odd reason.” She put her glasses back on and looked through his eyes, almost as if seeing into his brain, like that one bad eighties movie about aliens his dad used to make them watch every halloween. “He is the most trusting kid I have ever met, and it’s frankly an admirable trait to have. I never want anyone to cause him to stop believing in the good in people. And if it is you who causes that to happen, I will personally make sure you never have another bench to sleep on.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and examined his shoes, feeling the dirt under his fingers. “ I was going to ask how you could tell, but I guess that’s unnecessary.”

“Your clothes look like they came out of a trash can, in the literal sense instead of the fashion sense, and no child carries around their backpack on a Saturday unless they are homeless, extremely intelligent and proud of it, or Adrien.” 

He nodded. “Fair point. So,” He shifted his weight and looked up sheepishly. “You’re not gonna kick me out?”

“No,” She said, recrossing her arms and looking off in the direction of Adrien again. “But if you make any trouble, you are out of here faster than you can count to five.” 

“I won't make any trouble,” he said, smiling strainedly. She nodded and began to walk away. Danny closed the door behind her and turned to look at the inside of the trailer. The rain hit the top of the trailer in a thunder of noise, making a sound that would be comforting if he knew he wouldn’t probably be kicked out again in about four minutes, if his luck was anything to go by. There were no lights on at the moment, so Danny fumbled at the inside of the door frame for a moment before finding a small switch that he flipped up, and turned around. Golden light filled the massive inside of the trailer from a series of bulbs set up around a rectangular mirror. And the trailer was massive. It was like the tent from that one Harry Potter movie where it's bigger on the inside than the outside, but this one was absolutely filled with clothes. There were hats of every size and color, and many clothes that were much more reasonable than the stuff that they were wearing outside. The trailer was warm, and comfortable, and definitely the nicest place that he had been in for a while. And over in the corner there was a tiny little food bar with a mini fridge and...holy cow there’s Doritos. 

Adrien returned to Danny sitting on a stool surrounded by candy wrappers, dorito bags, and three and a half empty cans of pop. He turned around with a Snickers in his mouth. “I awm so souwwry.” He said, the snickers bar finishing it’s travel from manufacturing line to store to trailer to consumer in Danny’s mouth. Adrien smiled and walked over to the mini fridge and grabbed a water, shutting the door with his hip.

“If I didn’t mean for you to enjoy it, I wouldn’t have asked Nathalie to take you in here. I have plenty of food, take what you want.” He sat on one of the stools around the mini bar and they sat in uncomfortable silence until Adrien suddenly cleared his throat. “Thanks for sticking around.” He unscrewed the cap of the bottle while not looking at Danny. “I honestly thought Nathalie might kick you out.” He turned and gave Danny a wry smile. 

“Well, she tried,” said Danny, “ but I got away. Eventually she just gave up and let me stay.”

“That’s exactly the way to do it, my friend. It's good to have someone here, even if I am shooting for most of the time they're at the site.” He smiled embarrassedly. “I don’t even know you, I’m sorry. Maybe it was dumb of me to invite you here-“

“No, no! I actually, um,” He shifted in his seat. “I super don’t mind. In fact, I might even tolerate it. Maybe this is the best thing that’s happened in two weeks.” He shrugged noncommittally. “Or maybe I’m actually the most interesting person in the universe and this happens every other day. Either way, I’m still on board.”

The boy smirked. “Good to hear. I’m Adrien, as you may already know.” He gestured to the numerous candy wrappers on the small table. “I see you like candy. Good for you, my assistants seem to enjoy buying me American candy. I thought it was weird at first, but then I just learned to Rolo with it.”

Danny’s head immediately snapped around, and a wicked grin split across his face. “Your assistant must be a real AirHead.” 

“Actually, I think he might have a couple Twix up his sleeve. He’s actually pretty helpful most of the time.”

“So he’s a bit of a Lifesaver then? Oh that one sucked, forget that ever happened.” 

What followed was a pun and joke session that lasted for a full half an hour. And Danny felt happy. For the first time in a long time, he actually just sat on the floor and laughed for a while. And it felt so nice, spending time with this person who he had done nothing to deserve kindness from and yet found so much more, including maybe even friendship. 

“So, that was your dad out there then?” Danny said in one of the lapses in conversation.

“Oh. Uh, yeah.” Adrien stopped smiling. “He’s alright. He’s a fashion designer, if you couldn’t tell, and today he was trying out a new hire who’s a real nutcase.” He leaned back against the table and let his head hit the wood with a dull thud. “But I still get to wear the clothes. Unfortunately.”

Danny frowned, nodding. “It sucks, doesn't it. When your family has different expectations than what you can do. Or want to do.”

“Yeah.”

Nathalie came back to both of them sitting on the floor of a trailer, practically howling as Danny finished off telling a story about something or other from his hometown. “So, my foot’s totally stuck in there, right, I'm freaking out, the dog’s having a seizure and I still got half a pie left-”

“Alright, boys,” said Nathalie. “I’m sure you had fun, but I know someone,” she looked pointedly at Adrien, “who needs to get going to fencing practice in five minutes.” Adrien slumped his shoulders in an exaggerated pout. “And you probably have something better to do as well.” Danny frowned and crossed his arms. “So, I'm going to put an end to this little dry humor fest and tell you both to get going. I'm sure you can find another time to goof off. Somehow.” 

“I shall see you again, my friend?” Said Adrien as he was being practically dragged away by Nathalie. “I would hate for our superior comedy to be wasted on the unappreciative.”

“Of course,” Danny waved as the other boy was practically stuffed into a car waiting at the curb. “I shall eagerly await our next verbal sparring match.” He smiled awkwardly, suddenly remembering Adrien was a model, and a rich kid, and someone with a house, which was all of the things that Danny was most definitely not. Adrien quickly waved as the door of the car was slammed shut, cutting off his response and causing Danny to wave even harder as they drove off, water spraying up in a wave behind the car as the wheels span, attempting to get traction on the wet pavement. 

As Danny walked back to his bench, he thought about the unusual encounter. Adrien seemed like a good guy. His humor was on point, he was friendly. Maybe having a person like that around was a good enough reason as any to stay in one place for a while. Danny sat down, his stitches pulling painfully as he did so, making his face squish up in a grimace. Pulling his backpack around to his front, he hugged it close to his chest and tried not to remember the reason he couldn't just stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This is my first posted fanfic, and don’t worry I know my French is awful. If anyone has corrections for me I would be very grateful, as my only tool for that is google translate. I know this chapter was kinda slow, but it will pick up- first I have to develop relationships and shit. Please review and tell me your thoughts, positive and negative. Tell me what I could do better too, as I love constructive criticism.


	2. Golden Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is entirely too trusting and caring and also is misunderstood repeatedly.

Adrien came to school that Monday with a mission. It had been three days since his encounter with Danny, the only person who seemed to appreciate puns as much as he did, and he had uncovered some... information about the kid that he was not entirely comfortable with. 

He had been patrolling alone as Chat Noir the night after he met Danny. An unusual experience for him as usually on Friday nights he and his lady would patrol together, but she was late to the meeting spot on the top of the Eiffel Tower, so he decided risk Paris’s safety in his hands for just a moment of time alone in the sky. He had extended his staff to its full height and was catapulting from rooftop to rooftop, closing his eyes as he swept through the air, which kind of defeated the purpose of patrolling but felt so good that he didn’t care. A leap through the air, trusting in himself, his staff, and his own abilities to catch him- without even looking- was an intoxicating feeling. He knew that every step in the process was something he could count on- even if his eyes failed him, his body still knew the movements.

As he was almost back to the tower to check if she had arrived, he noticed a small, dull flash of white light coming from an alleyway about a hundred feet away. It almost immediately disappeared, but in this case the saying about curiosity and cats was not wrong, as he descended from his perch to creep to the top of the building beside the alleyway. He squinted even though it was unnecessary, as in the dark he could see just as well as a human in the light. 

That thought struck him for a moment. He had never really thought about what the transformation Plagg gave him entailed, or even if he was still human when transformed. When he was transformed he clearly had physical changes- he was stronger, faster, and could see about six times better than anyone with normal eyes, and not to mention the fact that his eyes completely changed shape and color when he transformed. Did that mean he wasn’t fully human anymore? That was kind of disturbing to think about. Was he still human when he wasn’t transformed, or did Plagg do something irreversible to him that made him able to switch forms at will? 

He dismissed the thought as he crouched low over the building, hoping not to see something either akuma or butterfly shaped below. Initially he saw nothing, just an alleyway filled with the refuse that some places in Paris seemed to be permeated with- trash bags, cigarette butts, and a group of laminated cardboard boxes stacked in the center of the alleyway. Then a flicker of motion caught his eye. It was a boy, kneeling on the ground and tying one of his shoes. In fact, as Chat watched the boy closer, he saw that it was Danny, the kid he had met earlier that day. While he was disheveled enough for a hipster fashion show, he also seemed kind, and funny, and mysteriously jumpy- always looking up at the ceiling or the door while holding conversation and almost never looking him in the eyes. What could he be doing here? He offhandedly noticed that there was also no sign in the alley way of anything that could have caused the flash of light. 

Chat’s eyes snapped back to Danny as he stood up from tying his shoe, and then started fiddling with the cardboard boxes. He then looked on as Danny pulled up the flap and squished himself inside, pulling his lanky arms in, the tips of his toes peeking out from under the cardboard. 

Chat almost slapped himself in the face. Of course he had noticed that the kid didn’t look like the most fashionable person in the world, and there was certainly something wrong with the way he had been out in the rain in nothing but a thin jacket, but he had never thought about something as malicious as that. Of course he was being naive, and maybe all those signs together would be obvious to another person, but Chat wasn’t sure he had enough experience with homeless people to even develop a stereotype on what they looked like. He wasn’t sure he had even seen a homeless person before- this was his first year of actual schooling, and he hadn’t gone out of his house for much more than vacations, fencing lessons, or photo shoots before that. He was also personally chauffeured to each and every location, so he didn’t get much of a chance to get out and walk around the city.

He sat down on the ledge of the building and covered his eyes with his hand, berating himself for his stupidity. He would be more observant, and hopefully more sensitive next time. But what had happened in order for Danny to be put into this situation? He clearly wasn’t from Paris, and was probably american judging by his accent. So why would an American be homeless in Paris? Maybe his parents moved here and he got kicked out? Maybe they were abusive and he ran away? Or maybe they died, and he got tired of being in an orphanage or foster home? 

Chat made a decision right then and there. Whatever had happened to this kid, his now self-proclaimed new friend, he was going to do whatever he could to help him get through it. He glanced again at that solitary brown box, all soggy now in the sprinkle of rain and propped up against a garbage can in the middle of an alley in the middle of Paris, a momentary blip in the pattern of space and time. Yeah, he was going to do something about it. Because he knew just how lonely that blip could be- and if he could do something about it, he had to. 

He was interrupted in his musings by a ringing in his baton. He quickly glanced down to see the flap pushing up and Danny’s black hair poking out and turning towards the noise, and started sprinting to the other side of the building, filled with an irrational fear of discovery. He flipped up his baton onto the next building and answered the call at the same time. 

“Why hello there, bugaboo.”

“Chat, where are you? I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes already, and I’m the one who was late.”

“Sorry, My Lady.” He began running for the tower. “I got there early and decided to do some patrolling without you. By the way, have you ever thought of doing any charity work?”

After a long period of deliberation and interspersed patrolling, Chat had finally been able to get Ladybug to agree to his plan. She was understandably concerned, voicing arguments about what their true responsibilities were to the city and how they shouldn’t use their powers for anything but fighting crime and akumas, but he eventually got her on his side using a system of bribery, reason, philanthropy, and puns. Actually, he finally convinced her by bribing her with a full week of no puns, which was going to be painful but worth it if he got to get her help. After all, the only way this would work would be them working together.

As he outlined his plan, she she frowned and wrinkled her nose in that cute way he secretly loved. “Okay, I understand what you’re going for and I agree it’s a good cause, but,” She turned to look him in the eye and raised a single eyebrow, doing a great impression of his father. “Why now? You’ve never seemed very interested in this kind of thing before.”

“Well, you see, there’s this situation,” He ran his hand through his hair, feeling not a small amount of consternation. Should he tell her about Danny? Technically that was the reason, though it would not only benefit him, but the whole of Paris’s homeless. Danny had just brought more awareness to the situation for him. And Ladybug would probably not agree with his decision to immediately trust and befriend a kid who lives on the street and probably could’ve stolen everything in that trailer. 

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Chat, are you okay?” her eyes searched his, looking for something. “Do you need any help?”

It took him a moment to realize what she was asking. “What! No, no- this isn’t for me, this- It’s definitely not for me, but it’s actually for a friend? I just met him the other day and-”

“Chat.” she said, and he immediately mentally slapped himself in the face because that entire sentence had just made him sound like both and idiot and a liar and now she was looking at him with that concerned look that she seemed to reserve for kicked puppies and akuma victims and- “Chat I want you to know that if you need my help I will always be there. You can stay in the loft if you need, and I can sneak you food from downstairs-”

“No, no no no no, that’s not necessary,” he said, maybe a bit too loudly. She raised the eyebrow again. “Look.” He took her hand in his, and looked her directly in the eyes. “I promise that I am not in any trouble.” He raised his other hand to the sky,doing his best impression of either a witness made to stand before the jury or a crossing guard. “I also heretofore promise to tell you whenever I get into any trouble, which knowing me, will theoretically happen within the next several minutes.” He made an elaborate bow to her, dipping his head to kiss her hand softly and standing up with a wink. “And I will let you save me when it happens.”

She curled her lips softly- a sad little smile that said she didn’t quite believe him, but was willing to put up with the inaccuracy for now. Her eyes were soft, but they looked so tired. He was momentarily alarmed by the amount of fatigue he saw in her face- he was surprised he hadn’t noticed before. He was just about to mention it when she stood up and brushed off her suit in a way that said, conversation over. “Let me? I think the privilege in that scenario would be getting a break from the saving.” 

Eventually they had decided to set up a panel and poster signing at a local foundation focused around helping unfortunate kids and families get back on their feet. They helped all sorts of people, after losing their houses or being kicked out. Chat made sure that the organization they chose was a non-discriminatory organization that was open to any person who needed help, whether they were abused, gay, trans, or any sort of thing. He wanted to make sure that Danny wouldn’t be turned away, no matter why he had been kicked out. Ladybug said she would organize the event, but gave him concerned looks for the rest of the night, glancing at him when she thought he wasn’t looking and frowning for the entirety of the patrol. Well, there goes my credibility with her forever, Chat thought. 

_________________________________________________________________________

Adrien walked into the science lab and immediately tripped over Rose’s unfortunately large mitochondria model that had been lying on the floor. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” He immediately fell to his knees and started picking it back up as a soft, (mostly) good natured laugh went through the classroom. Several pieces had broken off, and Rose was almost immediately by his side, almost as worried about him as she was about her semi-finished science project. 

Once they had gotten the last piece of the membrane reconnected with tape, he stood up only to find an armful of person thrown in his face. 

“Oh Adrikinz, I saw you trip and I came as fast as I could! As long as you account for the time to step over the debris.” Chloe smirked at the now sad, taped-together mitochondria that had now been safely placed on a nearby lab table. “That was quite an unfortunate place to put that, Rose. Clearly it was a danger to society.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, grabbing Adrien’s arm and leading him to his lab table before continuing on to her own, missing Rose’s affronted expression entirely. “Remember our study session after school, Adrikinz! I’d hate for you to miss it.” She waved her fingers at him while walking away, wiggling her eyebrows so wildly that he was almost afraid they would come flying off her face and land in the chemical solution on Alya and Marinette’s lab table. 

As Adrien passed by, he noticed Marinette and Alya talking- or, Alya talking and Marinette staring off into space, appearing to be dozing off. She had been doing that quite a bit, which made him slightly concerned for her well-being. Perhaps she hadn’t been sleeping well. Either way, seeing her reminded him of something he had been meaning to do. He walked over beside her and tapped her arm slightly, causing a miniature hurricane of movement as she snapped out of her dosing state, almost slapping him in the face at the same time. 

“Oh, Adrien, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” 

He waved her concerned hand away from his face and smiled comfortingly. “No, no, I’m fine Marinette. However, I do have something I wanted to talk to you about.” 

Marinette’s eyes snapped open, now fully awake. Alya also seemed extremely active, making several seizure-like motions as she looked at them both out of the corner of his eye that he elected to ignore out of politeness sake. “Of course Adrien, what is it?”

The sound of a meter stick snapping against a desk caused everyone to quiet as Mme. Mendeleiev shouted, “Everybody to your seats please! We have a lab today and I need total and complete cooperation, as not listening could mean either no reaction happening whatsoever, or a large chemical explosion that could blind everyone in this room. Either of those options is a negative, so please keep your eyes and ears open.” She then immediately turned and started scrawling formulas on the board, seemingly oblivious to the students in her classroom as Kim pretended to drink one of the test tubes filled with a toxic-looking green substance (to the delight of the back half of the classroom), Rose expertly braided Juleka’s hair at their table while completely ignoring the bubbling vials, and Sabrina attempted to fit safety goggles on Chloe who simply refused to have anything touch her perfect layer of foundation. 

Adrien grimaced and turned back to Marinette quickly. “I need a coat.”

Marinette blinked. “A coat?” She looked suitably confused, almost like a person who had just been asked for an article of clothing by a person with access to a closet the size of a small apartment.

“Yes, a warm coat, preferably blue, with lots of large pockets. It’ll be kind of like a commission, because of of course I’ll pay for it, but I want it to be something nice-”

“Monsieur Agreste, do you find yourself so above others as to define yourself separate from everybody?”

Adrien span around to find Mme. Mendeleiev standing immediately behind him with the meter stick in her hand, looking extremely miffed and seemingly ignoring the chaos around her. “No, Mme, I’ll just find my seat now.” He walked back to his seat away from Marinette, leaving her looking vaguely shell-shocked and Alya beside her, attempting to resuscitate her through rigorous arm-shaking and loud whispers. As he settled in his seat, Nino looked at him in shock. 

“What the hell was that about, man?”

“What?” said Adrien as he set his bag down under the table, reaching into the cupboard under the sink and taking out an apron, some safety goggles, and a pair of thick black rubber gloves as instructed by Mme. Mendeleiev, who had finally gotten the class marginally calmer and was explaining the protocols of the lab as if explaining the purpose and function of a hammer to an extremely unintelligent monkey.

“The spazzing around that happened over there with you and Marinette.” Nino snapped the goggles down over his glasses and winced as they pressed into his face. “That was probably the most awkward conversation I’ve ever seen between two human beings. What did you even want?”

Adrien flushed. “I needed a coat.”

Nino stared at him. “A what? What did you need?”

“A coat. I commissioned her to make me one.”

“Why the hell do you need a coat? Aren’t you the kid with the dad who’s, like,” Nino grabbed the bunsen burner and plugged the hose into the spigot on the table. “A major fashion designer? Why can’t he get you a coat? In fact, why didn’t he give you ten thousand new coats the moment you expressed interest? Because that seems like something your dad would do.”

Adrien frowned, a little defensive. “Well, no- Father does get me clothes, but the stuff I use for photoshoots all goes back to whoever designed it or to the store. And I wanted this to be a little more… “ He struggled for a moment. “Personal than that, I guess. I don’t know, maybe it’s dumb…” 

Nino stared at him. “Look, dude, you know I’m over Marinette, right? She’s a really cool girl and a good friend, but,” He glanced in the general direction of Marinette and consequently, Alya. “I’ve moved on from the whole crush thing. So if you wanna try to step in maybe… “

Adrien frowned, pulling the gloves over his hands and grabbing some tongs from the table. “What are you talking about? Marinette and I are just friends. Not that I’m saying that I wouldn’t be open to that, but I’m just not interested right now.” 

“Now students, take the sample from the test tube labeled A and measure the temperature with your thermometer. It has a very low boiling temperature, so if it is bubbling slightly that is normal. Now, I want you to take your sodium hydroxide beaker and pour test tube A into it- be careful not to-”

“Are you sure, man? Because you seemed pretty interested over there.” Adrien rolled his eyes as he used the tongs to pour the green liquid into the beaker. Nino continued. “I mean maybe-”

He was interrupted by a loud shriek and the shattering of glass from the other end of the room as Alya jumped back from the contents of the test tube, which was now bubbling on the floor among several shards of glass as Marinette stared in shock at the tongs that were supposed to be holding that selfasme test tube. She apologised profuseley as Mme. Mendeleev came over and told them both to leave the classroom to talk to them in the hallway. “Everyone else, don’t do anything until I get back! We don’t need a repeat of this.” She ushered both of the girls out into the hallway and then came back and started pouring a white powder over the substance, which slowly turned green as it absorbed the viscous liquid. 

Adrien was of course concerned for the girls, but mostly Marinette- she had looked so shocked, and he knew she had been working really hard in the past few months, pulling better grades than almost anyone in the class. Hopefully this didn’t reflect badly on her. He watched her as she walked out, a concerned look on his face as she held the door for Alya as they walked out. She didn’t deserve to get in trouble for this. He was roused from this contemplative stupor by Nino flicking his eyebrows at him, glancing between him and the door suggestivley and smirking.

“You sure that you’re not interested?”

Adrien stared at him flatly. “No, I’m not interested.”

“So what was the coat actually for then?”

Adrien sighed. Nino was just going to keep pestering him until he cracked, and he really didn’t feel like putting up with that today. “Okay, I’ll tell you. So, I met this kid on the street the other day..”

Nino listened to the whole story, excluding the parts about him being Chat Noir but including the parts about him seeing Danny out on the streets, nodding at appropriate moments and frowning at others as Adrien told him about Danny, and why he wanted to help. “I don’t know, I guess I just feel a little bit responsibe for him now, and I’d like to do something nice.”

Nino stared at him and slumped over the lab table, sucking in air through his teeth to make a hissing sound as he furrowed his eyebrows at Adrien. “You know, you are one of the most trusting people I’ve ever met. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s just something you’re gonna have to watch. Because not everyone is gonna be as nice as this Danny kid seemed to be. And he still could’ve mugged you.” Adrien nodded, but Nino turned and really looked at him. “You understand that, right?”

“Of course I do.”

Nino sighed. “Alright, what are you gonna do about it?”

“Well, I’m just gonna give him the coat and maybe try to get him some help.”

Nino sat up. “And how are you gonna do that? How are you planning to find this kid, Adrien?”

Hmm. He had not thought about that. Clearly his indescision showed in his face as Nino said, “Alright. We can look for him together.” He shook his head and smiled ruefully. “I’ll come with so you don’t get mugged, alright? And so you don’t make friends with a serial killer or something.” 

Adrien laughed softly,snapping the gloves back over his hands as Mme. Mendeleev walked back into the room, followed closeley by a sheepish Marinette and Alya. “You got time after school today? I’ve got a study session with Chloe that I would just love to skip.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHMYGOD you guys. I am so happy about the response to this so far- it brings me much joy and I have had to make myself several batches of victory brownies, which may have contributed to the lateness of this chapter. (My schedule is full of AP classes right now, so don't expect updates super often- they will get better in the summer.) Also a big thanks to everybody who commented on the first chapter and pointed out that Danny introduced himself twice- oops! Another big thanks to AmyMc1D for help with the french. Both of those things should be fixed within the hour. Also, just a fun fact- my chapter titles are all the song that i'm listening to the second I post the chapter, so if yalls can figure out who this is by, maybe we can talk music. ;)
> 
> (please review as they give me both +1 power and +2 speed)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first posted fanfic, and don’t worry I know my French is awful. If anyone has corrections for me I would be very grateful, as my only tool for that is google translate. I know this chapter was kinda slow, but it will pick up- first I have to develop relationships and shit. Please review and tell me your thoughts, positive and negative. Tell me what I could do better too, as I love constructive criticism.


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